INDIA. New Delhi: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the 13th BRICS Summit virtually today; the theme of the Summit was, BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation, and Consensus. He welcomed all dignitaries and BRICS Leaders – President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Xi Jinping of China, and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. Ha added that “It is a matter of great pleasure for me, and for India, to chair this summit on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of BRICS,” and referred to the detailed agenda for the Summit meeting.
He expressed confidence that the meeting will guide BRICS in the right direction for making it even more useful, and that all of the new initiatives will not only benefit our citizens but will also enable BRICS as an institution to remain relevant in the coming years.
Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the cooperation received from BRICS partners during India’s Chairship this year, which allowed the achievement of several new initiatives. These included the first BRICS Digital Health Summit; the first BRICS Ministerial Joint Statement on multilateral reforms; a BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan; an Agreement on cooperation in the field of remote-sensing satellites; a virtual BRICS vaccine Research & Development Centre; BRICS Alliance on Green Tourism, etc.
Highlighting the leading role that BRICS countries can play in the post-COVID global recovery, Prime Minister called for enhanced BRICS cooperation under the motto of ‘Build-back Resiliently, Innovatively, Credibly and Sustainably’.
Elaborating on these themes, Prime Minister stressed the need for accelerating build back by enhancing speed and accessibility of vaccination, creating ‘resilience’ by diversifying pharma and vaccine production capacities beyond the developed world, fostering ‘innovation’ by creatively using digital tools for the public good, ensuring reform of multilateral institutions to enhance their credibility, and promoting sustainable development by articulating a common BRICS voice on environmental and climate issues.
The leaders also discussed important regional and global issues, including recent developments in Afghanistan. There was a convergence of views on the threat posed by the growth of terrorism and extremism, and all BRICS partners agreed to accelerate the implementation of the BRICS Action Plan on Counter-Terrorism.
At the conclusion of the Summit, the leaders adopted the ‘New Delhi Declaration’.
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